When a company is evaluating its own financial health and planning for growth or for weathering a downturn, an assessment of your current situation and probability of default helps create a more complete picture.

Accounting professionals by nearly a 2-1 margin said in an online survey that their business clients don't do enough to ensure creditworthiness of customers, vendors and other potential transaction partners before they extend credit.

We recently found that a significant number of otherwise credit-worthy people may have been denied access to credit cards because they did not have their own income independent of their spouse. We thought this issue deserved further consideration.

You and I might revel in the crisp autumn weather, but your credit score hates this time of year. The reason? Starting in October and continuing through the next 90 days, many households dramatically increase their spending.

The most important question a cashier can ask you is this: "Would you like to sign up for our store credit card?" Millions of Americans are saying "yes" to that question. But like any credit card, these retailer-branded cards may have terms that can get you in trouble.

September has only just begun, but holiday layaway plans are already making the news. Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, recently announced plansto extend its holiday layaway program by a month this year, in addition to tripling its service fee from $5 to $15.

People are out of work, deeply in debt, and having their homes foreclosed. It's a grim picture. However, that is not an accurate picture of the whole country. The fact is that credit conditions vary radically from state to state.

To be sure, VA loans aren't the best fit for every military borrower. Veterans with sterling credit and enough cash to cover a healthy down payment might want to seek conventional financing. But that's far from the norm for most service members and their families.

Being maxed out isn't ideal but when it comes to your credit score, timeliness of your payments is more important to get current. That is, paying on time to not have a new late charge appear on your report is improvement! So getting current is a priority.

Both experiencing the emotional loss of a loved one and the emotional loss of your financial life are similar in some distinct ways. However, the emotional stages of debt also have two additional components that a mortal death does not.